Thoughts on the Cancelation of Star Trek Discovery

Yes, I’m bitter that Paramount canceled Star Trek Discovery.

Ideally, a great Star Trek show would be pushing the boundaries of television drama. The original Star Trek (TOS) did that. I’d argue that Deep Space Nine did that. None of the current Star Trek shows are interested in that.

Star Trek Discovery was at least pushing the boundaries of what Star Trek is. The other shows aren’t interested in going there. (An exception could be made for Star Trek Prodigy — which is genuinely great — but I don’t know enough about modern kids’ television to say if it’s actually pushing any boundaries or not.)

Star Trek Discovery started rocky but was at least improving every season. The season four arc, pulling in some more hard science-fiction… was it borrowing from Arrival? Sure! But at least it was expanding the genre of Star Trek and providing a genuinely fascinating story (even despite the fact that like all the current live-action Star Trek shows, it has trouble sustaining a single story for an entire season).

The other current Star Trek shows? They’re playing it safe and existing within the playpen of Star Trek that’s already defined. Which isn’t always bad and can often be great, but it’s rarely surprising. As a comparison, let’s look at a scene from Breaking Bad. Remember when Gus Fring…